Here is a bolt in the blocks, in the vise, and ready to bend. The bolt has the heat sink installed and is coated with heat stop. DONíT TRY TO BEND THE BOLT WITHOUT HEATING IT TO A CHERRY RED HEAT. I will not give detailed instructions, as the ones that come with the blocks do a better job than me.

Here is the bolt after bending and initial grinding, compared with the commercial bolt at the bottom. See that the bend is not as close to the body of the bolt, so to get the bolt to clear a scope some of the metal on the handle has been ground away. This grinding also removes the hammer marks left after beating on the metal to forge it and thins and weakens the handle.

See that using the existing handle leaves us a little short.

But all-in-all not a bad job. The knob could be swept back and polished.